Cummings: Snider was Maryland's hero

Joe Cummings’ game-winning goal with six seconds left in the fourth quarter propelled Maryland to a 10-9 upset of No. 7 seed Lehigh in a NCAA tournament first-round contest Sunday night and a quarterfinal date with No. 2 seed Johns Hopkins.

But the senior attackman said the true heroics were provided by senior midfielder Drew Snider, who scored two of his game-high three goals in the fourth quarter and collected a key ground ball that set up Cummings’ score.

“I can’t take that credit,” the Towson native and Loyola graduate said Tuesday when asked about being the Terps’ hero. “I think if you look at the entire game, there were so many big plays that happened. The fact that we even had the ball for that last minute of the game, you have to look at Drew Snider who had two goals, and he picked up a big ground ball for us to gain possession. I would say that Drew Snider was the hero because he really kept us in it and he did a great job of leading us.”

There’s no denying, however, that Cummings seized the chance when he was matched up against a Mountain Hawks short-stick defensive midfielder behind the net. After what seemed to be an eternity of moving back and forth, Cummings lost his defender while curling around the right post and slipped the ball past freshman goalkeeper Matthew Poillon, who had made 16 saves.

“I had never held the ball that long prior to going to the goal, but that was an opportunity that presented itself,” Cummings said. “I’m thankful that it went in.”